Ved Parkash Dudeja, Vice Chairman, RLDA, said, “Chandigarh will soon have a world-class redeveloped railway station with passenger amenities comparable to those found in international airports. The upgraded station will not only contribute to the city's infrastructure growth story, but will also integrate the two sides of the city, providing a new terminal for Panchkula side and a roof plaza. The redeveloped station will act like a new City Centre and play an important role in the city's overall development.”
The primary goals of station upgrades are to provide passengers with best-in-class amenities and to improve their travel experience. The redeveloped Chandigarh station will have separate arrival and departure areas to provide passengers with a comfortable and convenient travel experience. A 72-m wide roof plaza is being provided over the platforms with food plaza and retail shops for passengers. It will include a paid lounge, an enquiry counter, and some office and retail spaces.
Two foot over bridges (FOBs) will be built to ensure smooth passenger movement. The redeveloped railway station will be integrated with other modes of transportation wherever possible and will be upgraded in a unifying grid system to ensure structural modularity. Chandigarh Junction railway station serves the tri-city of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, and is a part of the Northern Railway zone's Ambala Division.
The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is a statutory authority within the Ministry of Railways. As part of its development strategy, it has four key mandates: commercial leasing sites, colony redevelopment, station redevelopment, and multi-functional complexes. During the current Financial Year, RLDA has leased out 15 sites which are situated at Bangalore and Raichur (Karnataka), Liluah and Salt Golah (Howrah), Nizamabad (Telangana), Waltax Road and Egmore (Chennai), Bhopal (MP), Ludhiana (Punjab), Abu Road (Rajasthan), Bhusawal and Solapur (Maharashtra), Bareilly, Varanasi and Gorakhpur in UP for a cumulative lease premium of Rs. 1633 crore. Plus, railway assets valued at approx. Rs. 226 crore shall be developed in Bangalore, Bhopal, Egmore (Chennai), Bareilly and Ludhiana Railway Colonies.
